The Fayetteville Observer April 07, 2011
700 Bragg soldiers to deploy to Afghanistan this summer
By John Ramsey
About 700 Fort Bragg soldiers have received orders to deploy to Afghanistan starting June 1, an 82nd Airborne Division spokesman confirmed Wednesday.
The 1st Battalion of the division's 3rd Brigade Combat Team plans on a yearlong deployment, but it could end sooner if the mission is complete, said Lt. Col. Dave Connolly, a division spokesman.
The orders came Monday, Connolly said.
"They're going there to increase the capabilities of the Afghan security forces and the security of the people," Connolly said.
Connolly said other details, such as where in Afghanistan the battalion will be going, are not yet available. As of Wednesday, none of the brigade's other battalions had deployment orders, Connolly said.
Rumors of deployment for the 3rd Brigade have been swirling for the past few months.
The brigade - which last deployed to Iraq from December 2008 to November 2009 - has been standing by since December for short-notice missions as the nation's Global Response Force.
Units in the Global Response Force are prepared to go anywhere in the world in 18 hours or less.
The 3rd Brigade took over the global response role from the division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team, which sent a battalion to Afghanistan for 90 days after the entire brigade deployed to Haiti for disaster relief.
About 90,000 troops remain in Afghanistan, according to NATO's website. President Obama has set July as the beginning of troop drawdowns in Afghanistan, but he and top military commanders have said the rate of withdrawal would be based on conditions in Afghanistan.
The Afghan government is supposed to take over its own security by the end of 2014.
John Pike, a military analyst and director of GlobalSecurity.org, said he doesn't expect much of a decrease in troop levels this summer.
"I don't think that's a particularly significant milestone anymore," he said. "Any appreciable withdrawal would be regarded as a retreat, and I don't think they're inclined to do that."
© Copyright 2011, The Fayetteville Observer
